1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a holding structure for electrical collecting and distributing members to collect and distribute electric current to windings, an electric motor and an electric motor producing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, an electric motor has been suggested that includes multiple phase windings wound around annularly arranged multiple cores respectively, an insulator made of an electrically insulating member interposed between the cores and the windings for electrical insulation therebetween, and annular electrical collecting and distributing members arranged coaxially with the multiple cores to collect and distribute electric current to the multiple phase windings. (See e.g., JP-A-2009-261082.)
The electrical collecting and distributing ring in the motor described in JP-A-2009-261082 includes bus rings as the plurality of coaxially arranged electrical collecting and distributing members, and a plurality of fixing members, which fix the plurality of bus rings together. The plurality of fixing members are spaced in a circumferential direction of the plurality of bus rings in such a manner that connecting terminals connected to a respective one of the plurality of bus rings are located between the plurality of fixing members, and the plurality of fixing members are formed by molding.
The plurality of fixing members include a respective projecting portion, which projects outward from an outer surface in a radial direction, and this projecting portion is mountable into a hole provided on an outer peripheral wall of an electrically insulating bobbin. This electrically insulating bobbin is made of an electrically insulative resin material mounted around the iron cores, and serves as an insulator for electrical insulation between the iron cores and the windings.
Refer to JP-A-2009-261082 and JP-A-2007-174869, for example.